HiFiMAN HM-801 Portable Player / DAC Review: Part One of Two - Page 28

which headphone sounded better with the HIFIMAN? the shure 840's or the sen HD650?

Just thought I'd share a bit of info I received from Fang about the delay when I asked him about it last week:

"Please keep waiting. We are waiting for ALPS volume control in stock. They suppose to arrive at the end of July but they are late. I was told that we will have them later this week. Will be finished in the next two or three weeks. "

This makes sense. Their prototype is ready, so they're probably just dealing with manufacturing/ logistics issues now. Personally I expect it to take another 4-6 weeks rather than 2-3 weeks, given the potential for even more unexpected supplier/ supply chain delays. That's inevitable with new products, I think.

BTW, I'm perplexed about why some are upset that no SD card is included. If you ask me, the fact that a manufacturer doesn't include something that I can easily buy on my own (and hence doesn't make a markup profit on it) is a huge plus. What if he included a 4gb card? Probably will not get much use considering the amount of music I have. A 32gb card? Some might think the product becomes too expensive, the card may be too slow, etc. It seems to work best for everyone if he just lets me make my own choice and get something I want via newegg/amazon etc.

Including a card that no one will use longer than a week is pointless. The vast majority of people have at least one SD card that they could test it with if they are waiting for a 32GB SDHC card to arrive. I think most people will go straight for 32GB SDHC cards, which are under $90 now.

I'm going to buy two 32GB SHDC cards right off the bat. In fact, I'm going to order them ahead of time and have my music transfered to it beforehand so I can just pop them right in and enjoy my HM-801 immediately.

I loaded up a 16GB SHDC card I had with FLAC files in various folders with sub folders to test the GUI, and it navigated the folders perfectly. Just as easy to drag and drop organize files like Rockbox, except I can use easily removeable memory.

-Ed

I don't see the point of changing anything but the amp module. The internals are pretty much maxed out as far as OP amp choices. As is the DAC chip choice for this price point. Unless you wanted to make it Class A fully discrete and have 30 minutes of power.

It's entirely possible to have an even better sounding and spec'd Portable FLAC player than the HM-801, but it would cost over $2000, weigh 10 lbs, and take up the space of a hard cover novel.

-Ed

it's all good~ no SD is fine

i m just hoping i get the UK chip ~ one of the reason i bought hifiman is i m kind of paranoid person and buying hifiman can stop me from wondering whats best sound like and what should my head phone and music sound like !

i know to some thats the joy of playing with all kinds of rig but not to me ~ it kills me to wonder and imagine it, so Hifiman takes the guess work out and for that i m really appreciate it !!

but now i will be keep wondering what would UK chip sound like different than the U chip~ oh damn me ~ never satisfy hey

i get you, i agree.....in a way it wasnt really on, announcing the fact that some will get better spec chip and some wont!

i can see the argument, that headdirect didnt have to upgrade in the first place, but if they are going to, some people feel they are missing out, and when you are an early adopter, it can hurt more to think you may be getting the same chip that some dude gets months/years down the line with a 'casual' order

ALL pre-orderers should get the better chip, all non preorderers get the standard chip

simples!

which headphone sounded better with the HIFIMAN? the shure 840's or the sen HD650?

Thank you for correcting the link . I was messing with quite a few windows then and probably have copied the wrong link.

I'm told that the board uses SM. If you can swap the DAC in this case, probably you can handle brain surgery--a quote from another thread .

Probably not. Let me state first that I'm in the same boat--have prepaid for the hifiman already so there is no teasing intended here.

The technology has been advanceing so fast that the joy of having a king may be eclipsed in just a blink of eyes. I bought the ES3X in April and received it on May hoping that I'm going to enjoy a new king or at least one of the kings of the IEM for few years (the throne of UE11 hasn't been turned for about 2 years I think). However, the JH13Pro came in July and I need to think about if I should upgrade again.

Quaddy> In what way is the UK chip better? (I asked because you refer to it as better, and I'm assuming you understand why/how it's so, because I don't..)

hey, i think ur good~ you ordered it way before me so i m sure you get UK alright lol

well, gotta say JH13 came in total surprise, i m with TF10 now and i m cool with that , i do set my next target to be JH13 but TF10 really is quite cool with me, when i have chance to travel overseas next may i m going to visit a few shop and try all the top end earphone to get some idea and that includes IE8 UE11 Se530 ER4B ES3X and JH13 demo one ~

i dont know, i m kind of strange person as i set my barrier quite easily ~ i mean like i really do mean i m cool with TF10 and HiFiMan at this stage, i m pretty lucky as i havent waste any $ on audio yet and my previous earphone was panasonic RJ-HE50 i think ~

i m paranoid in a way that when i hot up and crazy for one hobby, i go full on and do intensive study and want the best i can afford~ so early of this year i was into vintage watch and cost me lots~ glad i cool down soon enough and only spend around 2~3000 there other wise i almost going to jump the rolex Green glass or Deep Sea or the blue diver one....... that would seriously burn a hole of me.....

but i like it simple and neat and HiFiMan is so neat to me~ with lossless sound and TF10 (may b upgrade new cables, but am good now) i dont need lots of rig and gears etc ...... it will hold me on for a long time before my next jump~ ( i do want HD800 , but i know if i got that one then it will be lots of burning to my wallet as thats whole different level up so i dont feel any urge at all atm )



Zune HD is coming out, and i think its going to be a winner with all you can eat music plan and wifi access ~ i know how good it is coz i m using my X51v with Wifi NAS atm

no idea, i could google it and pretend to look all knowledgeable about it, but best to ask fang, i am simply paraphrasing fang in a previous post when he alludes to the fact that the K chip is one better, he should know!

"Great news: We decide to use PCM1704UK in first 60 to 70 pieces players in current preorder batch to express our gratefulness. If we can find more PCM1704UK in the future, we will keep use it. If not, we will use regular PCM1704U."

In the pre-order thread, emelius mentions that the PCM-1704U-K is the same design as the PCM-1704U, but with tighter specs.

If anyone else is interested, I found this pdf that stated the specs of this series:

http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/data...0/37245_DS.pdf

On page two there are two differences between U and UK: THD+N and Dynamic Range. Explanations of what this means can be found in the following link on page 3 and a bit of 4:

http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/sbaa055/sbaa055.pdf

THD+N and Dynamic Range are actually mathematically related. For those looking for a quick summary on what this all means if you get U vs UK, the following two sentences suggest that in this area where the U and the UK defer, you actually get significant differences in SQ with a DAC using the U or the UK. Considering that the U vs UK mainly deals comes into play with low level signals, I suspect that this may also affect hiss.

"Dynamic range is perhaps the most useful figure of merit for an audio DAC, as it indicates the DACs ability to reproduce low level signals. Human hearing is much more sensitive to distortion at very low signal levels than at large amplitudes."